NHS Grampian Archives Special Collections Centre Sir Library Bedford Road AB24 3AA  01224 274912  [email protected]

NHS Grampian Archives Collection Policy

Introduction 1. NHS Grampian Archives forms part of NHS Grampian and holds records relating to the NHS and its predecessor bodies, along with local health related organisations, and of individuals actively concerned with health care.

2. NHS Grampian Archives aims to collect, preserve, and make available records which have long-term historical, administrative, legal and medical interest which relate directly to the National Health Service and its predecessors within the North East of Scotland.

3. NHS Grampian was previously the Northern Health Service Archive and had responsibility for records relating to the Highland region as well as the Grampian Region. Highland Council Archives now hold the NHS Highland records. The Northern Health Service Archives therefore became NHS Grampian Archives in 2013.

4. The records had been held at until 2013, when the (generally) historic collection was moved to storage within the ’s Special Collections Centre in the Sir Duncan Rice. The (generally) modern records are held in an NHS managed outstore.

5. A list of the records held is available on the University of Aberdeen’s Special Collections Centre Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue, and by contacting the NHS Grampian Archivist.

Scope 6. This policy will apply to records collected in all formats by NHS Grampian Archives. It must be noted that NHS Grampian Archives does not normally accept museum objects.

7. The scope of the records which NHS Grampian Archives aims to collect, preserve and make available to the public (according to various legislation) is as follows:

7.1. Records created by the NHS and its predecessor bodies in the North East of Scotland which are deemed to be of long-term historical, administrative, legal and medical interest 7.2. Records relating to the NHS and its predecessor bodies in the North East of Scotland which are deemed to be of long-term historical, administrative, legal and medical interest

NHS Grampian Archives Collection Policy – 2016-2018 NHS Grampian Archives Special Collections Centre Bedford Road Aberdeen AB24 3AA  01224 274912  [email protected]

Appraisal 8. The NHS Grampian Archivist will have full responsibility for the selection of material for retention, and may make decisions based on a number of factors including (but not limited to):

8.1. Format – items held on formats which are no longer in use, and are no longer easily accessible (eg floppy disks) will be considered but may not be automatically retained. 8.2. Physical Condition – if an item is in poor physical condition and the cost of conserving outweighs its continuing value, it will not be retained. 8.3. Size – large collections may not be retained in their entirety, and the NHS Grampian Archivist will make a decision on what should be retained using their discretion. Advice to depositors about what to do with parts of a large collection which are not retained will be given.

9. NHS Grampian Archives will not normally retain items which are duplicates, do not relate to the NHS, its predecessor bodies, or to health within the North East of Scotland. Non- NHS and / or personal papers will not normally be collected.

10. Items which may be more suitably held elsewhere will be offered to the appropriate repository. Advice will be given to potential depositors regarding the best placed institution or organisation.

Accessioning and De-accessioning 11. Records which are collected by NHS Grampian Archives, either by internal transfer or external deposit, will be accessioned and added to the catalogue.

12. A list of new accessions will be provided to The National Archives annual Accessions to Repositories list.

13. The NHS Grampian Archivist will review the collections periodically and any items which are no longer deemed suitable for retention in NHS Grampian Archives will be recommended to be de-accessioned, destroyed, or transferred to a suitable repository. Further information can be found in NHS Grampian Archives Disposal Policy.

Review 14. This policy will be reviewed every two years.

NHS Grampian Archives Collection Policy – 2016-2018